On Nov. 30, Spotify released its annual streaming report popular among listeners: Spotify Wrapped. Every year, users anticipate receiving their own personalized playlists detailing their most-listened-to 100 tracks of the year, alongside a comprehensive recap of their listening trends, top genres and favorite artists. Let’s dive into some of the highlights from this year’s Spotify Wrapped.
Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift dominate
Leading the pack among all artists were Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift. Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist on the platform globally in 2022 for a third consecutive year — amassing over 18.5 billion streams, more than double his streams from 2021 — while Swift ranked at number two globally for a second consecutive year. Swift was the only female artist present in the top 10 most-streamed artists globally, supported by her late-October release “Midnights” (2022), which, with only a few weeks of tracking, was the fourth-most-streamed album in the United States on Spotify in 2022. Bad Bunny had the most-streamed album globally and in the United States in 2022 with “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Three of Bad Bunny’s songs made it into Spotify’s top 10 most-streamed of the year: “Me Porto Bonito” with Chencho Corleone (No. 4), “Tití Me Preguntó” (No. 5) and “Ojitos Lindos” with Bomba Estéreo (No. 9).
Harry Styles’ global British invasion
Harry Styles also enjoyed a successful year on Spotify as the sixth most-streamed artist globally. Additionally, Styles nabbed the most-streamed song of the year with “As It Was,” the lead single off his most recent album “Harry’s House” (2022). The track was also the most-streamed song in the United States and “Harry’s House” followed Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” as the second most-streamed album both globally and in the United States on Spotify in 2022.
Kate Bush brings the ‘80s to the ‘20s
Following its appearance on the soundtrack of the fourth season of “Stranger Things” (2016–), “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” was the tenth-most streamed song globally on Spotify this year. Notably, the song was released nearly 40 years ago on Bush’s “Hounds of Love” (1985). The track was also the eighth-most streamed in the United States this year — the highest ranking for a female artist in this category. The only female artist outranking Bush on the global songs chart was fellow Brit Dua Lipa, who was included on “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” with Elton John and PNAU, at No. 6.
2021 albums win big in 2022
Despite the highly successful releases of 2022, 2021 albums managed to secure many top spots on this year’s Spotify Wrapped. Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR,” Ed Sheeran’s “=” (Equals) and Doja Cat’s “Planet Her” were the third-, fourth- and fifth-most-streamed albums globally of 2022, respectively. Two songs each from “=” (Equals) and “SOUR” and one song from “Planet Her” all managed to rank in the top 50 most globally streamed songs of 2022, despite being released a year prior. Doja Cat was also the second most-streamed female artist globally and in the United States after Swift despite almost no new releases in 2022.
Lana Del Rey ranks highly on viral lists
Similar to Doja Cat, with almost no new releases in 2022, Lana Del Rey secured many top spots on some of Spotify’s more unique year-end lists. Del Rey was ranked as the fifth-most viral artist of 2022, according to Spotify — second for female artists after Swift, who topped the list. Del Rey’s decade-old hit “Summertime Sadness” had the fourth-most globally shared lyrics of 2022 on Spotify, the most for any song by a female artist (“Heat Waves” by Glass Animals topped the list). Additionally, Del Rey was the ninth-most-streamed female artist globally in 2022 and ranked No. 30 overall.
If Spotify’s 2022 Wrapped report taught us anything, it’s that streaming is rapidly increasing. With older tracks and albums finding success years — even decades — after their initial release, artists and musicians are getting a wealth of appreciation in these annual roundups.
